Thermal runaway is a catastrophic failure mode for Valve Regulated Lead-Acid (VRLA) batteries. A VRLA battery's internal temperature can rise significantly due to excessive charge current or sometimes just due to aging and normal charging current. Under these conditions, a regenerative heating condition can occur. As the battery temperature rises, an exothermic chemical reaction inside the battery causes heat to be generated. This heating causes the exothermic reaction to become more vigorous, and consequently, the battery becomes even hotter. This cycle, called thermal runaway, will continue until all current flow ceases. However, thermal runaway may lead to disastrous consequences. For example, the battery may bulge, split, and/or leak acid into the environment around it. Even under normal conditions, as the battery ages, it begins to draw more current from the charger, causing internal heating that can eventually lead to thermal runaway.
Systems that measure and/or monitor battery parameters such as voltage, current, impedance, and temperature are known. Some of these systems attempt to predict future battery performance by applying correlation rules to trends in the measured parameters. However, known systems are cumbersome, expensive, inaccurate, unreliable, and/or not easily installed. Most notably, known systems are believed to require a battery intrusion, such as an electrical connection to the monitored battery and/or battery system. It is therefore desirable to provide a system and method that overcomes these shortcomings.